Menu Menu
[gtranslate]

Can wooden wind towers make renewable energy even cleaner?

Eradicating carbon-intensive materials from the production of wind turbines, like steel, Swedish start-up Modvion is creating easy-to-assemble alternatives from wood. Is this the way forward?

Solar maybe the current undisputed king of the renewable energy farmyard, but wind is a close runner-up.

There’s a global consensus that any chance of achieving the terms of the Paris Agreement will rely on drastically increasing renewable forms of energy. Specifically, wind and solar reportedly need to rise to around 41% of the globe’s power production by 2030.

A major part of this rapid acceleration is Biden’s green light for the largest offshore wind farm in history, which will begin construction off the coast of Virginia Beach this year – providing 2,600 megawatts of green energy, capable of powering 900,000 plus homes.

While this is undoubtedly a major boon for the sector, and we wish to see continued growth in the years ahead, there are several pesky drawbacks of the current wind industry: chiefly, the carbon-intensive materials it requires in abundance, like steel.

A Swedish start-up called Modvion, however, is offering a novel solution to slash the industry’s carbon footprint drastically. It’s no secret that Scandinavian’s see wood as their primary construction staple, and there’s real promise in utilising its sustainable qualities here.

The company recently unveiled the world’s tallest wooden wind turbine near Gothenburg in southwest Sweden.

Standing 150 metres tall and featuring a two-megawatt generator capable of powering some 400 homes, the structure is comprised of laminated wooden modules which are easy-to-stack and transport.

Swapping out the carbon emissions related to steel production for deforestation isn’t great, granted, but Modvion claims to use spruce from sustainably managed forests, in which re-growth exceeds the rate of logging.

Boasting a higher strength to weight ratio than its traditional counterpart, the towers enable lighter construction and can be assembled using a small crane. Its segments are also joined using glue rather than thousands of bolts, and a coat of watertight paint protects it from the elements.

Despite being markedly less durable than steel, the massive savings on production costs can be put into building the structures as tall as possible. In theory, wooden towers could be built as high as 1,500 metres, though current demand calls for closer to 150-200 metres.

Unsurprisingly, the difference in life cycle emissions is the greatest upside. While regular wind turbines usually offload roughly 1,250 tons of CO2, wooden towers slash this volume by 90% to around 125 tons.

When the time comes for the latter to be decommissioned, the wood can find new life as high-strength beams for Sweden’s building industry.

So, there we have it. The pros seem to far outweigh the cons. Whether wooden turbines can holistically replace steel remains to be seen, but it’ll make a fine addition to our renewable efforts regardless.

Accessibility